


A Polychromatic Surprise

by RiseiTekiSensei



Series: It's A Long Story [10]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Happy Birthday Toriel, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route - "I want to stay with you.", Prompt - Hidden, all will be explained later in the series, i am the trash who writes, oh dear god what are you wearing!?, part of my It's A Long Story Series, pre-soriel, sans abuses powerful magic for shits and giggles, sans you little shit, she's a july baby, sorielweek, sorielweek 2017, year 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-12-09 18:13:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11674452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiseiTekiSensei/pseuds/RiseiTekiSensei
Summary: Sans and the gang throw Toriel a surprise party... ?





	A Polychromatic Surprise

**Author's Note:**

> For Day 3 of #SorielWeek2017 on tumblr. The prompt was Hidden. You can find more information and other submissions at sorielweek.tumblr.com.

Sans settled down a bit more comfortably in his assigned hiding spot. Papyrus had insisted that everyone have a “PREDESIGNATED PARTY CONCEALMENT LOCATION” to make sure that they would not be seen by Toriel when she came in. 

 

Sure, it made some sense to make sure that everyone was in a spot where the seven-foot-tall goat-monster couldn’t see them right away, but only if this was actually a surprise party. And it wasn’t, Sans knew that for a fact. 

He sighed as the lights were hurriedly shut off and the room full of excited monsters hushed each other in anticipation of their former queen’s arrival home. Sans could see Frisk from where he was sitting, their smile winked in the dark as the hid underneath a table laden with presents. He knew how excited they were about throwing this party for their mom, so he didn’t want to burst their bubble, but there was no way in hell that Asgore actually planned this. 

Not only was the guy still kinda on Tori’s shit list, but he also couldn’t plan his way out a paper bag. He was kind and lovable and cared so very deeply about his people, but the big guy’s organizational skills were seriously lacking. Gerson and Undyne and the other members of Asgore’s staff had always been the ones to help Asgore plan and throw any of the major celebrations that happened in the Underground. Whether it was for his birthday or for Gyftmas or whatever… he’d always needed help. 

 

_ the doc used ta’ get roped into helpin’ all the time... _

 

So the idea that he’d been able to plan out everything for this surprise party and give Frisk a list of who needed to do what and when was kinda ridiculous. Honestly, Sans wasn’t sure why Undyne, former Captain of the Royal-freakin-Guard and all-around best buds/ ward of the King, hadn’t called bullshit when Frisk had first told them about this. She out of everyone should’ve know how far-fetched this whole thing was, but she’d jumped on board right from the get go so Sans had just gone along.

 

It was easier that way, anyways. 

Why go to the trouble of pointing out somethin’ everyone else seemed perfectly happy to ignore, when he could just ignore the obvious too? 

 

Sans suppressed another sigh and wished he’d tried a little harder to suppress his suspicion too. All he’d had to do was pick up the cake, that was it. It was an easy simple task and it meant he got to hang out in Poppy’s bakery; he’d missed begining able to- heh,  **sweet** -talk her out of a cinna-bun as he walked to work in the morning. But no, he just couldn’t keep his mouth shut. He just  **_had_ ** to ask her who’d ordered the cake and, like he’d anticipated, it hadn’t been Asgore. 

No, what was really bothering him was that it had been Tori, herself. She’d ordered her own birthday cake for her surprise party… Which, of course, meant that this wasn’t a surprise party, it was just a party in which a bunch a people decided to sit in the dark until the last soul showed up. 

Sans could understand why Toriel wouldn’t want to let Asgore or Mettaton, or even Papyrus for that matter, plan a party for her but he just didn’t get why she’d lie about it, especially to Frisk. 

 

_ did she wanna make it seem like fluffybutt was better at plannin’ stuff than he really is? but why?  _

 

_ she doesn’t like him anymore, clearly… so there’s no love-loss there, so what gives?  _

 

Sans had run through all of this several times already and the only thing he could come up with was that she just wanted to have a surprise party…  _ but seriously, who plans their own surprise party?  _

It was kinda obsessive and overbearing, even for Tori. That’s something they both had in common, though- well, that and their universally-accepted terrible sense of humor.  _ overprotective and immature… so why does it work so well for her?  _

Sans had to muffle his laugh, but he still got a couple of shhhh’s from nearby monsters. Tori was Tori, of course it worked for her. She’d seemed to have an off switch for that kind of stuff, or at least so he’d thought. But if she couldn’t let go planning her own party, then maybe she wouldn’t be able ta’ help but find what he was gonna do funny… 

 

Two could play this game of absurdity, except Sans was certain he’d had several more years of practice at it than she did. And he’d had the sense to make a quick stop at the party store before showing up.

 

* * *

_ So far, so good _ . 

 

Toriel was immensely pleased with the way the party had turned out so far- except… 

Something just left off and she couldn’t seem to place it. It was just this little nagging feeling in the back of her mind, that something- somewhere, just… wasn’t quite right.

 

Toriel studied the room once again in an attempt to figure out what was off about the party. 

The decorations had been hung splendidly, all symmetrical and even. Lavender and pink streamers had been twirled together and hung over all the windows and across the doorways. There was a lot more glitter on them than she’d expected, but Mettaton and Papyrus were both here so she wasn’t surprised. Balloons of the same color had been filled and decorated the corners of the room and ends of the buffet and gift tables. The spider pastries looked and smelled wonderful, even if she hadn’t had a chance to eat one yet; she’d been much too busy playing the role of host and celebratory focus. 

 

_ The tablecloth is quite lovely, though…  _

 

She hadn’t wanted to have a birthday party; at her age it seemed rather foolish to celebrate something for the thousandths time. But as her child, in their lovely purple and pink tutu and bedazzled butterfly wings, flitted about as the ‘birthday fairy’ Toriel couldn’t begrudge the event. That had been a stroke of genius on her part, giving Frisk a reason to wear their newest play-costume at an event and one that was  **not** on national television. She loved her child dearly, but they had the strangest sense of style. 

 

_ Them and Sans… Although, I do wonder if Sans picked it up from Papyrus or if that was the other way ‘round.  _

 

Her punny friend was- It was not as if he didn’t match or that his clothes clashed… He just suffered from what she liked to call ‘if it fits’ fashion. He was in jeans and not shorts, undoubtedly at Papyrus’ insistence, but they had paint smears on them. And she for the life of her could not actually think of an instance in which he had spoken about painting anything, therefore she could only assume that he had purchased the pants with the paint stains already on them. He’d likely found them in a second-hand store and his- his ‘thriftiness’ was admirable, but for heaven’s sake! Did he have to wear that hideous shirt, too! 

The damn thing might have had buttons but it was by no means ‘dressy’. It was as though someone had picked the worst pastel colors on the planet and then doused the shirt with them in a random pattern until they all started running together. Thank the heavens, he was wearing his hoodie or else more of his eye-searing shirt would have been exposed to the world. And he didn’t seem to care in the slightest. Toriel had no idea how Sans had managed to walk out of the house in that, not with Papyrus living with him, nor could she figure out how Mettaton had not thrown him out yet. 

 

Although, everyone else must have gotten used to it by now, since they’d all been here earlier to set up the party. Toriel shook her head slightly. 

 

“Like, what’s wrong your majesty? Do you not like, love Ter and Troy’s future plans and stuff?”, asked a confused Catty. She and Bratty had both been telling Toriel about how much fun they’d been having on the Surface and the going-on’s for two of her royal guards. 

“Oh, not at all. I think it is a wonderful idea for the both of them and I think they will be very happy.” Toriel responded and hoped that was a reasonable answer, for she hadn’t been listening. “And Catty dear, you may call me Toriel if you would like, I am no longer the queen.” 

“Oh! Like, duh. We tots know, but now we get to, like, tell everybody that we, like, went to the Queen’s Birthday Party! It’s like so awesome and everybody’s gonna be soooo jealous!!!”, Catty laughed with delight as she raised one paw to her mouth. 

Bratty nodded in whole-hearted agreement. “Yeah! We, like, took tons of pics of the whole party set up and stuff so afterwards we can, like, post ‘em to, like- Everywhere!”

“And I’ve been taking tons more so we can post all of the party awesome for our super adorbs followers!!”, Catty went on as she pulled out her phone. 

Bratty leaned down next to her friend and they both exclaimed, “Birthday Party Selfie!” Before they both started laughing and making face at the camera. Toriel smiled that the young pair and waved a parting farewell, even if they were both too caught up in documenting themselves to notice. 

She was glad that they were having a good time, she really hadn’t been too sure about inviting them but, and she hated to admit it, Asgore had been right; they were both very lovely young women who had really stepped up during the ‘Big Move’ to help the other residence of Hotland store and transport their belongings. She was glad she was getting the opportunity to get to know them a bit better.    


At last Toriel had found an opening and managed to make it through the crowd un-accosted to reach the buffet table. She grabbed a plate and select several very beautiful and flakey desserts along with several pieces of fresh monster-fruit before she noticed that something was off. The tablecloth was different- or at least she  _ thought  _ it was different… 

 

_ Had it not matched the balloons and streamers only moments ago? All lacy and pink? _

 

It was still lacy but now it was a soft spring green. Toriel glanced up at the balloons and realized they too were green and yellow. Both colors just as pale and lovely as the tablecloth, but she could have sworn that they’d been a different color… 

Toriel turned to study the room only to find that it was all still pink and lavender just like she had thought it was.  _ That is odd… or I suppose it is not odd, it is exactly how it should be.  _  She must have just forgotten that the buffet table had been colored differently than the rest of the room, so she turned back to collect a napkin- 

 

The tablecloth was pink. 

The balloons were pink and purple again. 

None of the dishes had so much as moved. 

 

_ What. _

 

She blinked at the table and then she looked over her shoulder at her living room again. It was still pink and purple. She looked back at the table. It was pink- but…

 

_ Something has changed…  _

 

She scanned each item on the table: assorted fruit, spider brownies, spider donuts, spider tarts, spider croissants, butterscotch candies in little pink and purple wrappers, paper plates, napkins, flowers- 

They were blue and purple. The flowers were much too dark when compared with the rest of the decorations. She stepped towards them and realized they were also fake.  _ Plastic flowers… _

She turned back to the rest of the room to look at the other flower arrangements only to discover none of them now matched the decor. All were the wrong color and were undoubtedly fake. But they hadn’t been earlier. Asgore would never have wanted them to use fake flowers so the group wouldn’t have used them either-  **hadn’t** used them. She could remember smelling one of the bouquets earlier when she’d first come in, she loved the citrusy smell of freesia, but now that same bouquet near the door was filled with plastic daffodils. 

 

And no one else seemed to have noticed the change. 

 

She wasn’t crazy, but everyone else seemed to be either talking, eating, or all-around having a good time. But this was much too strange to go unnoticed by the others, right? Certainly, they must have noticed too and were simply not telling her-

“how’s the party, tori?”

She nearly jumped out of her skin at the voice at behind her. She whirled eyes wide with alarm and stared at Sans. 

He, without missing a beat, took a step back to avoid being clocked by her elbow. “heh, i know it’s a surprise party and all, but we’re done doin’ the ‘jumping out’ bit.” He snickered. 

She wanted to whack him, but that would be impolite; she settled for placing her free hand on her hip and glowering down her snout at him. “And what have **I** told you about sneaking up on people, hmm?” 

Sans grinned at her, but he raised his hands in concession. He was about to say something when he aborted his placating gesture for a stifled yawn. 

“But, the party has been wonderful. I really do appreciate all of the work you and everyone else put into creating this for me.”, Toriel replied to his initial question, filling in the momentary silence with casual conversation. 

Sans’ smile seem to twinge for a second but his sardonic attitude prevailed, “ ‘course, t. anything for the queen.” His words hadn’t been stressed in any particular way, but she could feel something snide in his tone. 

It caught her off guard and left her feeling just a little hurt. Had this been to imposing upon them? She hadn’t wanted to do this, but it had been something she’d assumed everyone else would enjoy… “Oh. Yes, well you needn’t worry about little old me. I have seen far too many of these kinds of parties as it is…” 

Sans’ smile froze for beat and she could see something flicker in his eye-lights but she couldn’t tell what. “i- that’s not what i meant, tori.” His words were apologetic, but instead of saying more he just looked away. 

Something that did not happen very often, did. An awkward silence passed between the two of them. Sans stuck his hands back into his jacket pockets and Toriel took a small bite of a strawberry, neither said anything. 

Sans puffed out a breath and then turned back to her, gaze intent. He clearly wanted to say something, to clarify what he had said or why- 

 

But he was interrupted. 

 

“It’s cake time, darlings~”, exclaimed a very enthusiastic Mettaton. His outfit was a much more elaborate and glamorized version of Frisk’s fairy costume; with a tulle-filled skirt and a set enormous wings that should have been too large to maneuver with, he posed in the archway. Upon finding out about Frisk’s costume, he had immediately decided to make himself the Birthday Fairy Monarch and declared Frisk his official royal birthday fairy advisor. 

With all the elegance and grace his internal gyroscope could provide, Mettaton not only strutted across the room in sparkly four-inch heels, he also cleared a path to her with a mere look. He was carrying her elaborately frosted cake, vanilla frosting swirled in lovely soft pink and purple patterns across its bi-tiered glory. 

It took her a moment to realize that it was also topped with candles, a modern tradition she had seen on human television shows. Toriel hurried side-stepped so Mettaton could deposit the cake onto the table behind her, she put her barely touched plate down as well. Then with all the pomp and fanfare the pop idol thought was necessary he placed the cake down and like a grand conductor lead the party in the all important happy birthday song. 

Toriel, however, didn’t hear them. Not as she looked down at the cake and noticed the peculiar arrangement of the candles. She knew it was traditional to put the same number of candles in a birthday cake as the new age of the soul in question, but she also knew that they wouldn’t be able to follow through with this tradition for two reasons. First, because it would have been a ridiculous number of candles and a serious fire hazard. And second, because they did not know how old she actually was. 

Somehow, she had been wrong... But thankfully only due to a loophole some clever soul must have thought of, for the reasonable number of candles had been arranged into a large  _ ‘MI’ _ . 

 

_ But how did they know…  _

 

Her eyes flashed up from the cake to meet Sans’, only to discover the monster was gone. He had managed to sneak off while Mettaton’s flamboyant entrance had distracted her. He, who she knew was the one responsible for the retreiving the cake and since she hadn’t asked Asgore for candles, must have been the one responsible for their pattern. He had also been about to tell her something. 

 

Oh, she was going to corner him if it was the last thing she did. However, as the song began to end she noticed something else. 

 

The flowers were real again… but the tablecloth was green. 

 

* * *

 

The rest of the party had not gone well for her, but only because she could not seem to capture Sans. He seemed to evade her with easy, but not without letting her know that he  **knew** she wanted to talk with him. Knowing smirks and winks were tossed her way as he practically melted out of conversations whenever she approached. It had started to drive her crazy!

 

And of course, now that she had noticed the color-changing decorations, she began to notice the shifts more and more. But, in a very Sans-ish fashion, they never remained the wrong color when she wanted to point them out to someone else. She had tried to stare at one of the mis-colored decorations for several uninterrupted minutes, but there were so many monster who wanted her attention she never managed to catch the change. It was maddening!

She hadn’t a clue as to how the irritating little pri- prankster was managing to pull off the quick changes without anyone noticing! 

Toriel sighed heavily and settled down onto her porch with an added huff. She glumly stared out into the night and adjusted the high waist of her jeans to make sitting slightly more comfortable. Then almost as an afterthought she kicked off her flats just to add to her relaxed appearance.

The sun had set a while ago, but the warmth from the scorching July day still hung over the suburban neighborhood. Toriel was glad that they’d decided to have the party indoors because even now she found it too hot outside for her liking. 

She didn’t get up, though; the concrete felt warm against her toe pads, but not unpleasantly so.

They,  _ Papyrus _ , had insisted that she take no part in the post-party cleanup, but she couldn’t  **not** help clean… 

She snorted at the oh-so-polite way Papyrus had suggested that she might like to enjoy the warm summer evening… outside. But he was right, despite the warmth she did enjoy the way the summer night swelled around her. 

It was peaceful and quiet, and very late in the evening. All of the day’s events had left her feeling tired and she caught herself again, wishing to have her house back to herself. She looked up at the night sky, but couldn’t seem to find the energy to look for the North star.  _ Not that it is in this direction, anyway…  _

Toriel let her head rest against the post next to her and closed her eyes on the world. 

 

.

.

.

 

She wasn’t sure how long she’d had her eyes closed, nor was she certain when she’d lost her solitude but it didn’t seem to matter, for she knew who had sat down with her. 

 

_ It is just like him… avoiding me the entire day only to sneak up on me later.  _

 

_ I should open my eyes. _

 

_ I want to talk with him- No, what I want is to wring his neck, but I think Papyrus would disapprove…  _

 

The silence stretched and he made no sound or attempt to get her attention. And that too, was just like him… Letting her keep her peace until she was ready to speak with him. 

After a long sigh, she opened her eyes and straightened. 

He sat on the other side of the porch, the neck of ketchup bottle held loosely in his hand and his eyes transfixed by the stars. She had liked watching him in candid moments like this when they’d been living together, it didn’t happen very often but they’d had some very interesting conversations on the roof of that apartment complex. He didn’t look at her or make any kind of acknowledgement that he knew she was watching him, but he didn’t really have to. They both were far too familiar with this to not know what the other was doing anymore. 

“i figured with the heat and all, ya’ might want some of the leftover lemonade.”, Sans hummed, still not looking away from the sky. His bony fingers did gesture to the glass that she hadn’t noticed sitting between them. 

As promised it was full of ice and lemonade; condensation had already created a small puddle underneath the glass, she noted as she pick it up. The cold water felt nice against the pads of her paws. 

“That was very kind of you, thank you.”, she replied in the same soft tone. Her ire had vanished sometime during her rest out there, but she wasn’t sure if that meant she should let his mischieves actions go or not.

 

_ Hmm… I think not. If I do not call him out on such things then he will just continue…  _

 

She took a long sip of the cold drink and enjoyed the way the hints of vanilla smoothed out the tartness from the fresh lemon juice. “Not that you have been particularly thoughtful or kind today.” She commented dryly. 

Sans snorted and she had to try very hard to squelch her own smile. “that’s what i keep tellin’ people, but nobody believes me.” 

Toriel rolled her eyes, “Yes, well in that outfit it is hard to assume that you are anything but a clown… with very bad taste.” 

Sans laughed outright and Toriel smiled at her little victory. “But in all seriousness, what on Earth are you wearing? And for the gods’ sakes  _ why _ ?” Sans kept laughing and Toriel had another sip from her glass while he chortled. She really did love to make him laugh. 

After several noises that only sounded like gasps for air he finally responded, “mettaton and pap said i had ta’ dress ‘colorfully’, heh hehehehheh-” He made to wipe a fake tear from his eye orbit and continued between snickers, “guess the joke’s on them- heh!” 

Now, Toriel did laugh. Of course, it had been to spite someone trying to tell him what to do; she should have known that that would have been the only thing to cause him to go out of his way to dress so appallingly bad. “Yes, but did you have to torment the rest of us with your- your-”

“- ‘the 80’s puked on your funky fresh shirt’ fashion sense?”, Sans finished with a laugh and suggestive brow wiggle. Toriel could only giggle helplessly as he answered her question, “and yes, i had ta’ act without concern for any bystanders or else they’d never get off my case about it. i did try to minimize the casualties with my hoodie, though, but it was only partly effective. bratty n’ catty decided they didn’t need to ‘ _ like, document my shirt for the betterment of all monsterkind. the people, like, need ta’ be told about, like, what not ta’ wear. _ ’” Sans managed to imitate Catty flawlessly, hand gestures and all. 

Toriel had to let her head rest against the post again while she clutched at her stomach. It was aching with the laughter that she couldn’t contain. Once she managed to regain her breath she replied, “Yes, I knew those two young ladies were very sensible. Do burn that shirt at the next available opportunity.”

“without a doubt.”, Sans grinned as he saluted her with his bottle. 

 

A much more companionable silence fell between the pair than the one that had befallen them earlier and Toriel was very reluctant to break it. Sans was less so however, for after several minutes of quiet he finally spoke, “so i gotta ask tori…” 

At her nod of consent he continued, much to her surprise, “-didya really plan your own surprise b-day party?” 

And now his comment and attitude from earlier made more sense. She closed her eyes as the warmth from her magic made her skin flush hotly. She hadn’t wanted anyone to know that she had been the one behind the party- or at least that she had been one of the souls behind the planning.  _ At least it is just Sans who knows… _ But for some reason that only made her embarrassment worse. “I-”, she paused to clear her throat, “How did you find out?” 

Sans snorted into his half empty bottle, “tor, ya’ ordered your own cake and then sent me to go pick it up, come on.” 

“Ah, so Miss Poppy told you…” Well, at least that meant it hadn’t been something she had said. 

“but i wouldn’t have bothered to ask if it wasn’t so obvious that somethin’ was already pretty hinky with the situation… i mean, you didn’t actually think  **asgore** would be a good cover identity, didya’? no offense, er anything, but the man is seriously organizationally challenged.” 

Now, it was Tori’s turn to snort.  _ Well, now I can blame this all on Asgore, excellent.  _ “No, I did not believe using Asgore’s name was a good decision, but that was not my choice.” Ha, now it was his turned to decipher some cryptic statement!

He turned to study her, eye orbits narrowing as he contemplated what she had said. She kept her face passive and coolly returned his gaze, he’d get nothing out of her without asking for it. After another beat of silence he slowly said, “... cause this wasn’t yer’ idea, was it?” And then the Toriel watched in amazement as the light bulb of understanding went off. “heh! it was asgore’s plan from the get go and you what? caught him trying to give his list ta’ frisk! heheheheheh~” 

Toriel huffed and Sans laughed, heartily; even his bones were rattling with the exertion. Toriel did not dignify this with a response. She waited for him to regain his self control before sending him a pointed look. “And what would you have had me do instead, hmm? He had already told Frisk about his plan and they had latched onto it with all their heart. I could not just dash their dreams because their co-conspirator was so clumsy about the whole ordeal.”

“touché.”, Sans hummed around a grin. “but here’s a radical idea, how about you just let the rest of us hand the details. i know it’d have been a lot more flash than this and- more glitter-y, but at least then it would have, i dunno, been an  **actual** surprise.” 

Toriel sighed and hunched her shoulders. That, of course, had occurred to her before this… but the idea of her house being covered in a- a Mettaton-style party made her shudder. “Yes, but the last time I let my child plan a surprise I was awoken by a fire-alarm… And a lot of pancake batter, everywhere.” 

 

Sans didn’t seem to have much to say to that, so the quiet of the night crept back. But this time Toriel was the one who wasn’t ready to let the conversation end. “So how did you find out about my- hrm- actual age? I am assuming you had been the one who put the candles on my cake.” 

“heh, yeah i figured i couldn’t actually fit that many candle onto the cake… and still have it be edible.” He didn’t seem to want to elaborate any further, though. 

 

_ Oh no, you do not. If I had to answer your question then you have to answer mine.  _

 

She stared intently at him, not saying anything more but not letting him change the subject either. He sat there appearing for all the world like he didn’t care… except- 

_There!_

His phalanges fidgeted on the bottle. 

 

She grinned and Sans sighed knowing he had been caught. “look, tori… i sorta tripped across it when i’d been doing some- uh, researcher for your present.” He didn’t look at her while he spoke. 

His and Papyrus’ present had been wonderful, a ‘New Teacher Care Box’ was what the brothers had called it. The box had been full of an assortment of useful teacher related items: red pens, several adorable sticker booklets, two different books full of full worksheets for children in the sixth grade, a ceramic apple with a tiny snail on it, and many other things. It had absolutely delighted her and she had almost forgotten about the decoration shenanigans, expect of course when she had looked up from the box all of the streamers were the wrong color.

 

She, however, was not sure how looking up cute and useful things for a new teacher involved her age. 

“That was a lovely present, I think I shall put that apple on the desk in my room until my school is finished, a reminder of sorts.”, Toriel commented as she thought about how to phrase her next question. 

“heh, yeah pap really outdid himself with that stuff… one of those folders has some more of those handout worksheet things, ‘xcept they’re all geared towards monster history and facts and stuff. pap had a blast makin’ ‘em.” Sans replied, but he seemed abstracted still; his mind and train of thought elsewhere.

“Oh.” That had not been what she was expecting, but still she wanted to know- had to know. “That was incredible thoughtful of him, but did you not help with them?” 

Sans studied his bottle for several seconds before responding. “nah. i may have had’a hand in some of the stickers, but it was pretty much all pap…”, he trailed off. She waited for him to make whatever decision he needed to before replying. At last looked at her, but not before pulling a plain white envelope from his inventory. 

His eye-lights were uncertain and hesitant as he bounced the letter on his knee for several seconds. “this is my actual present, but it didn’t really fit with paps’ theme so i didn’t added it… i also wasn’t really sure if you’d want it ‘er not…”

“And what is it, exactly?”, Toriel managed to ask calmly, despite the fact that she was half ready to jump him for the damn thing. Curiosity had always been a particularly bad vice of hers.

“information. but once you know you can’t really un-know it, ya’ know?”, Sans muttered. Then he blinked and laughed, “god damn, okay i hadn’t realized how confusing that would sound until i said it, heh. here.” Then with a new found flippancy Sans offered her the envelope. 

She very carefully did  **not** snatch it from him, but she did not hesitate to open it. He hadn’t even bothered to seal it, he’d only tucked the top flap down into itself. 

 

It was a brochure. 

 

_ ‘Come and Enjoy the Great Outdoors on your next trip to Anticosti!’  _

 

Read the front page, the words were splashed across the upper two-thirds of the small sheet the rest of the page had a high resolution picture of a lovely forest. 

Toriel opened the guide, but didn’t really read anything about the  _ ‘excellent hunting and fly-fishing lo-cal’  _ or  _ ‘the glories of nature and you!’ _ . The images were nice enough, but after flipping through the entire thing, she still didn’t understand why Sans had given it to her. She made it to the last page and had been about to look up when the back cover caught her eye. 

 

_ That picture- the bay…  _

 

She’d spent so much time as a young girl running along that bay, with its chalky white stone cliffs and pebble strewn beach… 

 

Her fingers traced the image slowly, gently as she felt magic fill her eyes. 

 

“as far as i could tell, i think that’s the island where you grew up. the maps from way back really aren’t that great and the humans kept changing the names of stuff, but…”, Sans said but he sounded like he didn’t think she was listening. “there’s this little port town called port-menier and it’s the major hot spot for tourists and info and stuff, so if ya’ want to go an’ visit there ‘er somethin’ you c-.” 

Her head snapped up to look at him, she must have startled him for he jumped slightly when she’d moved. He looked concerned and worried as she stared at him, but she couldn’t speak. Her throat was filled with emotions and memories and- 

Without any regard for their drinks she pulled Sans into a hug. She might not have been able to speak her gratitude, but she could certainly show it. “ack! uh- tori?”, Sans mumbled against her. 

“ _ Thank you, Sans… Thank you so very much. _ ” she managed through her joy and sorrow and all of the memories that filled her. Happy and sad, fear and fun, loving and bitter. It was all too much for her. 

Toriel felt him shift and she heard something glass being set down, then she felt his arms stretch around her. She was practically engulfing him in large furry monster but Sans hugged her back as best he could. “you told me once… a long time ago, that you wanted to go back there one day. i figured this might help that wish come true.” 

 

Then after a beat he added, “and you’re welcome, toriel. happy birthday.”


End file.
